first campus visit done

[creekland]

or week-long round of humans vs zombies to enjoy too.

I don't know that I put a "brag" moment on here, but middle son won a $75 gift card to Wegmans by winning a two dorm couple week long Assassin game... He had a lot of harrowing tales to tell from it.  ;)

 

Youngest knows he wants a campus (as opposed to a mostly commuter school) based upon multiple stories from his older brothers.  My guys like studying AND fun (non-partying) ECs shared with other students.  To us, that's part of the "college experience."

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I don't know that I put a "brag" moment on here, but middle son won a $75 gift card to Wegmans by winning a two dorm couple week long Assassin game... He had a lot of harrowing tales to tell from it.  ;)

 

Youngest knows he wants a campus (as opposed to a mostly commuter school) based upon multiple stories from his older brothers.  My guys like studying AND fun (non-partying) ECs shared with other students.  To us, that's part of the "college experience."

 

I think both my older kids would really thrive at a non-commuter campus.  Though they may have to do a couple years at community college first.  Should we stay in VA, that is a pretty wonderful option.  But I know they would really love the intensity of a couple years on the right campus.

[Kareni]

Are there any issues with 16 year olds traveling solo? I have no problem, in my home country teens travel widely by themselves, I am thinking about rules in this country like staying in hotels, flying, etc.

 

Most airlines do not have an issue with 16 year olds traveling solo.  One suggestion from me:  Try not to book your child on the last flight of the day returning home.  My daughter's first flight arrived too late for her to catch her connecting flight home, and she ended up spending the night in the airport in Salt Lake City before catching a noon flight home the next day.  If your daughter does not have a cell phone, I'd suggest obtaining one for her to use during her trip.

 

Accomodations might prove more problematic.  Find out if the college can arrange for her to stay overnight in the dorm.  If she is visiting during a time when the college does not permit overnight stays, contact the Physics department and ask if they can find a Physics major who will host her.  (One of my daughter's hosts - during a time the college would not provide housing - came through a board such as this when I connected with another parent whose child attended that college.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[FaithManor]

we are working on that. Extensive study of the websites, asking people who studied or teach there...

 

 

 

We have selected the 20schools based on the quality of the physics departments. But being physics professors ourselves, we are acutely aware of the differences in classwork bewteen schools witj different student populations.

 

 

 

 

Tuesdays are much more packed. We have already planned to do the driving visit before our semester starts.

 

 

Interesting idea, have to think about that.

Are there any issues with 16 year olds traveling solo? I have no problem, in my home country teens travel widely by themselves, I am thinking about rules in this country like staying in hotels, flying, etc.

In terms of flying, she does not need a chaperone. Many kids, due to custody arrangements, fly fairly young in this country. For the younger ones, the parents pay a "flying unaccompanied" charge which means the airline takes responsibility for the child, parents get a pass to walk the child to the gate and wait with him/her, a flight attendant is assigned to the child, and the person on the other end must show identification before taking the minor. The airlines are not at all adverse to having teens flying alone. We sent dd to Colorado when she was 10, and to Arizona when she was 13, and each time the airline was great! I really don't think train travel over the age of 15 is a problem either. Amtrak is pretty good about this as well, and they have very few security issues.

 

As for the colleges, you might want to check. I think that if you state the case ahead of time, tell them you are sending your teen to do a college visit alone, etc. they will probably be pretty accommodating. With accelerated course and dual enrollment having a 16 year old enrolled full time and living in the dorms is not unheard of for these schools, so it shouldn't be too strange to have a 16 year visiting alone.

 

Probably the only issue would be the hotels because most hotels will not allow someone under 18 to check into a hotel without an adult. They can stay in a room alone...certainly when we take kids out of state on 4-H trips, we have groups of teens in rooms without an adult. However, someone over 18 has to book the room, and has to be present at check-in as a chaperone. You might find a hotel that will accommodate you if you talk directly to the management. However, my suggestion would be that you arrange an overnight on campus with the administration. A night in the dorms is a great way to get to know a campus community and when I was in college, I had more than one high school student camp out with me when they were checking out the campus. Our school was very careful to make sure ultra-responsible college students with good reputations, usually recommendations from the RD and at least one professor were required, housed minors. We never had a bad incident and that included the time we had to take a very sick 16 year old to the college clinic for evaluation. We took good care of her until her parents arrived. My college even provided transportation to and from the nearest airport.

 

Maybe I'm just more liberal in this regard than other parents, but if all of the arrangements were made in advance with my child, cell phones were in hand and emergency contingency plans made, and the college was receptive, I'd be willing to send my level headed child on without me. However, I am willing to admit that free-ranging of this nature in minors is not nearly as wide spread as in Europe.

 

Faith

[8filltheheart]

Long distance visits aren't on our radar until after acceptances and possibly aid packages. It is cheaper to apply than travel, so we will wait. Schools within driving distance we will go to. We are used to getting up at 2am and driving through the night (we started doing that when we had a van load of little ones and driving while they slept was worth the loss of sleep ;) ) so we can go quite the distance for a morning tour/meeting and drive home in the afternoon/early evening. We have already done this a couple of times and it has worked out well.